Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by QGolden on September 30, 2012 at 1:57pm

There is really no replacement for soldering.  (IMWO (in my worthless opinion ) Lowes and Home Depot offer a Soldering Iron for about 14 dollars.  If you can search for a Harbor Freight near you, they have the same one for about $5.00 , I think Radio Shack has it for about $9,00.  They are low watt and you will need a bit of patience, but they will solder.

Permalink Reply by Thomas "Duck" Petry on September 30, 2012 at 6:33pm

What QGolden said. The cheap ones will work fine, but you need to buy an iron.

Permalink Reply by Marmelade on September 30, 2012 at 9:54pm

I would buy a second hand one on a flee market. Or hope that a  person has several ones and would be nice enough to send you one. Good luck !

Permalink Reply by Randal on October 1, 2012 at 3:07pm

Find someone to do it who knows how to solder. Soldering is not simple without a bit of practice.

Permalink Reply by Jason Hitesman on October 2, 2012 at 8:13am

Soldering is pretty easy and you should be able to find a cheap iron.  Harbor Freight has one for $3.  If Tucson is anything like Yuma you've probably got a few swap meets that are getting ready for snowbird season and can find similar deals at them.  

I started soldering when I was about 5 by building Heathkit kits with my dad.  The soldering you do on a guitar is really basic stuff and a cheapie iron is just fine for it.  I'd suggest staying away from the lead-free solder though since it can be harder to work with.  And be sure to get actual electronics solder (60/40 rosin core) not plumbers solder from the hardware store.  I prefer really thin solder but again for guitar work that's not really necessary and in some ways harder to deal with than slightly thicker stuff.  You can get a small pack of .032" 60/40 rosin core for about $4 at Radio Shack. 

The trick is to remember to heat the connection not the solder.  Make sure you have a good mechanical connection first by twisting your wires together, then apply heat to the wires/jack and once they're hot enough apply the solder.  The solder will wick into the connection naturally all by itself if you have it hot enough.

It's a good skill to learn and a cheap iron will handle a LOT of common soldering jobs.  

Permalink Reply by Tom on October 2, 2012 at 8:35pm

With all the old timers on here I am surprised no one mentioned the old style irons. Just supply your own heat source and walla.

63, just outside Phoenix-have made a couple cbg's that so far are cool to look at, but dont play well, but then niether do I :)

Did make a couple of flutes years back that ended up nice wall hangers. But them 2 wooden salad spoons I tied together keep a pretty steady beat !

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